A Body Piercing Pricing Guide

It is very hard to give any sort of solid pricing guide regarding body piercing prices. What is easier to do is to explain how the price is usually determined. Most piercers will charge you for three things: the jewelry, their equipment, and their time. The combination of these three factors determines the price of your body piercing.

Jewelry:

Jewelry is easily the part of this equation where prices will vary the most. Acrylic jewelry, which many shops will use for the initial stretch to larger gauge piercings, is typically the cheapest. In some stores I've been to, surgical steel is the next cheapest option, but I have also found shops where glass jewelry (wonderful for stretching your earlobes if you have any metal sensitivities) is cheaper than metal. Organic jewelry and rare or unique metals are usually the most expensive option. Keep in mind that some of these options are not available for all new piercings, and different piercing artists may have restrictions on which materials they will use for stretching piercings.

Usually, however, a piercer will offer you a couple of different options for jewelry, and depending on your funds, you may have some ability to choose a lower priced jewelry option. For example, when I had my navel pierced, I chose a very simple barbell that they had, which was also the lowest price. Had I wanted to spend a bit more, I could have gotten flashy stones or designs on one or both of the barbell balls.

You will occasionally find some piercers who will allow you to bring in your own jewelry. This is not a universal practice, however, for two reasons. One is that many piercers make a good chunk of their income from the jewelry sales. The other is that most piercers prefer to pierce with quality materials, and it is sometimes hard to tell if what you have brought in is a good metal or a cheap metal. Definitely check with your piercer before you bring in your own jewelry, but this can be a way to lessen the cost of your body piercing somewhat.

Equipment:

The pricing on equipment (specifically needles, but also including gloves, clamps, and other necessary equipment for a piercing) is probably the least likely to vary from shop to shop. Most shops will charge somewhere around $10 for the equipment use. You should definitely not complain about this fee, as it is imperative that each piercing be done with a clean, sterilized needle. If a shop does not charge a needle or equipment fee, I would be a bit leery about being pierced there.

Time:

As I mentioned above, many piercers make a chunk of their income from jewelry sales. They are able to buy the jewelry in bulk, and then charge their customers for the price of the jewelry with a bit extra tacked on. Because of this, most piercers won't charge you much for their time, but they do occasionally charge a small fee that guarantees that they are making a profit from their work. Honestly, this is only fair.

Not included in the price of a body piercing is the tip, which is customary in America, and highly recommended. Most people probably tip better for their tattoo artists than their piercers, but let me tell you a little secret--if you tip your piercer well, they will often give you a reduced price on future piercing work. The piercer that I go to is one that several of my friends also go to, and he is always willing to offer us deals on multiple piercings and even jewelry, because we all consistently tip him generously.

Keep in mind that all of this information is just a rough assessment, based upon my personal experiences with body piercing prices. Depending on your location, prices may vary, sometimes even widely within the same basic geographic location. Keep in mind, though, that you often get what you pay for, and just because one piercer quotes you the lowest price, it doesn't necessarily mean that you want to choose that piercer. Cheaper is definitely not always better in the world of body modification.